A Ukrainian married couple, both aged 75, were killed in a Russian attack on the southern port city of Odesa, Ukrainian officials reported. The assault, involving a series of drone strikes, destroyed residential buildings and hit a foreign merchant ship.
The overnight strikes on Thursday injured at least 13 people. A separate attack killed the elderly couple and wounded another person, according to Ukraine’s State Emergency Service.
Serhiy Lysak, head of the local military administration, shared images of a building engulfed in flames and another torn open along one side, with emergency crews working inside. “Municipal services have been working at the sites of the hits since night,” he said.
Separately, two Russian drones struck a bulk carrier as it headed through a Ukrainian maritime corridor towards a Black Sea port in the greater Odesa area, Ukraine’s seaports authority said. The attack triggered a fire that was extinguished by the crew of the Saint Kitts and Nevis-flagged vessel; no one was hurt, according to preliminary information.
Russia launched two ballistic missiles and 107 drones at Ukrainian territory overnight, according to Ukraine’s Air Force. It said air defences “destroyed or jammed” 96 of the drones, while 10 drones and the two ballistic missiles recorded “hits”. Russia claimed its air defences shot down 10 Ukrainian drones overnight.
The attacks come as a new series of European Union-imposed sanctions target Russia’s energy, banking and trade sectors. Russia’s mission to the EU criticised the additional sanctions, which further clamp down on the “shadow fleet” of ageing tankers Moscow uses to evade oil export restrictions. In a statement cited by TASS, diplomats said the measures lacked UN legitimacy and infringed the rights of third countries.
Alongside the sanctions, the EU also formally approved a 90 billion-euro ($106 billion) wartime loan for Ukraine that is expected to cover about two-thirds of its funding needs for 2026 and 2027, as the war continues for its fifth year.
Source: www.aljazeera.com